The presence of a strong principal is a prerequisite for the success of any educational institution. A principal must have a clear vision of the future direction of his or her school and the leadership ability to bring the dream to fruition. Because schools reflect the increasing complexity of society as a whole, modern principals find themselves faced with unprecedented challenges in maintaining quality educational environments.
Webster (1994) conducted a three-year study of high school principals, which examined the various roles they play in today's high schools. The study involved visits and interviews in more than 150 high schools in 23 states and 7 countries. The study encompassed each geographic area of the United States (New England, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Southwest, Midwest, Rocky Mountains, Far West, and Alaska) as well as schools in Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Scotland. The average school size was 1,120 students; some were racially mixed, others were close to 100 percent minority or 100 percent white. The median age of principals interviewed was 43, of which 27 percent were women and 18 percent held doctorate degrees. The most typical college majors of these principals were social studies education and English education.
An interesting observation of the study was that Webster (1994) was unable to discern a "model" of the high school principal. Most managed their schools based on their past experience as teacher or administrator, rarely citing theoretical foundations or studies as factors in their decision making processes (p. 6). Lopez (1995) confirms this assessment, particularly for principals who are faced with the challenges presented by inner-city schools, "Because we were dealing with non-traditional families and non-traditional students, we often found it necessary to discover or invent new approaches to everything from building maintenance to parent involveme...